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  • Sue Hayman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Sue Hayman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sue Hayman on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress his Department has made on reducing levels of tax avoidance by large corporations; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr David Gauke

    The UK initiated the G20/OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project and has already taken action to implement two of the internationally agreed outputs with domestic legislation to introduce country-by-reporting and rules to address hybrid mismatches.

    In addition, the UK played a key role in securing the successful EU agreement on automatically exchanging information on tax rulings, reached at the ECOFIN Council in October 2015.

    Complementary to international efforts to tackle this issue, we introduced the Diverted Profits Tax from April 2015 to counteract the diversion of profits from the UK by large multinational enterprises.

    In the summer Budget 2015 we legislated to improve the effectiveness of our Controlled Foreign Company (CFC) regime by removing the ability for companies to use UK losses and reliefs against their CFC charge.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from the Living Wage Foundation in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

    Damian Hinds

    The Government receives representations from a wide range of stakeholders on the minimum wage. A list of ministers’ meetings is published on the GOV.UK website.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Mark Hendrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what timescales the Tax Credit Office in Preston has in place to respond to representations made by hon. Members by (a) telephone, (b) email and (c) letter; and how this Office performed against these timescales in the last reporting year.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Tax Credit Office aim to prioritise and respond to representations from hon. Members as soon as possible, irrespective of the route by which they are received. HMRC do not, however, routinely record and collate performance against specific timescales for such representations.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been paid to the Landfill Communities Fund by third party groups in each of the last five years.

    Damian Hinds

    The regulator of the Landfill Communities Fund, ENTRUST, does not hold data on the amount of money contributed by third parties.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the ease by which UK SMEs can access the export market.

    Anna Soubry

    Increasing exports is a key factor in the Government’s long-term economic plan and, through the GREAT campaign, it continues to promote the support available to those UK businesses looking to take advantage of overseas opportunities.

    According to data from the Office of National Statistics, since 2010 UK exports have increased from £444.4bn to £513.5bn per annum. At the same time, the number of UK exporting businesses has increased from 188,000 in 2010 to over 221,000 in 2014. The Government commitment is to increase this figure to over 288,000 UK exporting businesses per annum by 2020; an increase of 100,000 on the 2010 figure.

  • Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he plans to take to improve access to finance for SMEs.

    Anna Soubry

    The Government is taking steps to improve financing opportunities for smaller businesses through the British Business Bank. The Bank is making business finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively and dynamically and is already supporting £2.4 billion of finance to over 40,000 smaller businesses, and participating in a further £3.3 billion of finance to mid-cap businesses. It aims to facilitate up to £10 billion of finance by 2019. In addition, measures in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 will require banks to refer customers who have been declined for a loan to alternative finance providers via designated platforms. This is expected to provide a significant boost to diversity and competition in business lending and is due to be implemented later this year.

  • Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Charles Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the annual cost to the financial services sector of compliance with money laundering regulations in each of the last five years.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government’s Anti-Money Laundering regime has a clear aim: to make the UK financial system a hostile environment for illicit finances, while minimising the burden on legitimate businesses and reducing the overall burden of regulation.

    The government conducts an impact assessment when updating the Money Laundering Regulations, which were last amended in 2012, and will shortly publish an impact assessment alongside a consultation on the transposition of the EU’s Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive. However, the government does not make annual assessments of the cost of compliance and the FCA, as the supervisor of the financial services sector, also does not undertake such assessments on the basis that regulated firms are generally unable to provide costs specifically for compliance with the money laundering regulations given that these costs accrue in relation to systems and controls that manage a variety of operational risks, both relating to financial crime and for other conduct and prudential reasons.

    Bearing in mind to objective of minimizing burdens on legitimate businesses, the Government has launched a review of the impact of the current Anti-Money laundering and terrorist finance regime as part of the Cutting Red Tape Review programme. The Review is specifically seeking evidence on the role of supervisors in that regime, so that regulatory activity can be made as efficient as possible. A report is expected in the coming months and this will inform the work that the government is doing to reform the regime as part of the Action Plan to address weaknesses identified by last year’s National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing risks.

  • Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Doughty – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-01-12.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, who his Ministerial private office informed of his plans to visit Cardiff on 7 January 2016; by what method they so informed those people and on what date those communications took place.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Chancellor’s visit to Cardiff on 7 January 2016 was made in accordance with the specifications of the Ministerial Code.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people aged 65 and over have continued to work in each of the last two years.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-12.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which contracts with his Department G4S are currently bidding for.

    Matthew Hancock

    To ensure fair and open competition the Government does not publish the names of bidders during the tender process.

    Successful bidders for all central government contracts are published on Contracts Finder:

    https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search

    Successful bidders for all Crown Commercial Service (CCS) contracts are published on the CCS web site:

    http://ccs-agreements.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/

    “